Ironic because cigarettes are $12 a pack
only in NY and IL are they $12 a pack.
they cost around $5 a pack in the smokestack states discussed above (Marlboro Reds)
still, folks just above the poverty margin spending thousand or two a year on cigs can push them below the poverty line. One of the 101+ reasons poverty statistics are believed by no one involved in them.
my buddy in Cebu City, Philippines, knows bunches of chain-smoking expat Aussies, Germans, Canadians, etc. who live/retired there partially due to the fact cigs cost 89 cents a pack!